Firefighters have traditionally worn boots which are made of rubber. When the traditional boots are worn, the upper edge of the boots is positioned immediately below the knees of the firefighter. Rubber boots have traditionally been used because of the excellent dielectric characteristics of rubber material. Furthermore, rubber boots are resistant to hazardous materials and resistant to moisture and heat.
A firefighter normally wears protective trousers which cover at least a portion of the firefighter's boots. The firefighter's trousers and boots are normally removed together as a unit from the firefighter, and the trousers are pushed down or compressed around the boots. Thus, the trousers and boots are normally stored as a unit. Conventional firefighter boots are referred to as "knee-high" boots. The knee-high boots are sufficiently high that they extend upwardly from the trousers as the trousers, in the stored, compressed condition, encompass the boots. When an alarm occurs, the firefighter can quickly respond as the firefighter steps through the legs of the trousers and into the boots and pulls the trousers up to the waist for fastening the trousers in the proper position. Thus, the firefighter can quickly and easily don the boots and trousers simultaneously. Of course, alarm response time is a very important factor by which fire departments are judged, because the quicker the fire department responds to an alarm, the greater is the likelihood for quickly containing the unfavorable situation.
Even though rubber boots are particularly suited to meet the footwear needs of a firefighter, rubber boots have significant limitations. Rubber boots are relatively heavy in weight. Stress is the leading cause of firefighters' deaths and injuries. The weight of protective clothing is one of the factors that causes stress in firefighters. Because stress is such an important factor for fire departments to consider when protective clothing is chosen or designed, the weight of rubber footwear has drawn considerable criticism. Many fire departments have chosen leather boots, because the leather boots generally are lighter in weight. However, the leather boots are less protective.
It is an object of this invention to provide a firefighter's boot which can be made of rubber or rubber-like material but which is significantly lighter in weight than the conventional rubber boot of a firefighter.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a rubber or rubber-like boot for a firefighter in which the boot, even though lighter in weight, is of a configuration and dimensions which provide all of the necessary protection required of a firefighter's boot.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a firefighter's boot which has sufficient height to extend upwardly from trousers which are compressed around the boot, as the boot and the trousers are stored as a unit.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a firefighter's boot which includes means for grasping the boot for support of the boot for donning the boot and for moving the boot.
Other objects and advantages of the firefighter's boot of this invention reside in the construction and configuration of the boot, materials employed, the method of production and the mode of use, as will become more apparent from the following description.